The Five Drivers Of Teen Buying Behavior: What Marketers Need To Know

Welcome to the GTR Consulting Blog.The goal of this forum is to create a thought-provoking dialogue among marketers about the best way to approach kids, tween, teens, and twenty-somethings –

So what’s the best way to start understanding a market of consumers that can confound even the best marketers? By realizing that today’s teens are the ultimate moving target.Since adolescence, their lives have been a continuous process of adopting and integrating socially impactful technology.To succeed with this unique demographic – increasingly known as The Flux Gen – marketers must understand the five fundamental drivers of the teen psyche and buying behavior.

1.Cool looking technology, or Technobling, is the new badge item. Teens demand style just as much as functionality.Any product marketed to teens must have both.As one 16-year-old boy told us in a focus group, “You don’t want a girl to see you using a lame, old, ugly-ass cell phone.” Gucci, Christian Dior, Chanel – not to mention Nike, Microsoft, Disney, among others – are already hip to that fact.

2.It’s got to be ultra customizable.Teens have a need to personalize almost every aspect of their lives. They’ve come of age in a democratized world that celebrates individual identity.FaceBook, NikeID, cell phone ring tones, Xbox 360 faceplates all provide an opportunity to apply a signature touch.Customization is a way for teens to exert a modicum of control in a world that’s out of their control.

Next Week: Part II outlines the remaining three Drivers of Teen Buying Behavior.